The Slender Man: Fading Light
by McBraas
Summary: Thomas, a small-town high school janitor, suddenly starts receiving strange phone calls from a mysterious stranger, asking about his 10-year old son and goes through lengths to try and protect him. But he soon discovers that it will be no simple task; a task no one ever has succeeded.
1. Chapter 1: The Caller

Sean was bored. Bored to the point where he had trouble lying still. There was nothing interesting on TV at this time; just the local news, with their endless stream of non-interesting blabber about missing pets and locals winning 50$ in the lottery. Who cares? Did people really find this so fascinating that they would actually wanna sit and listen to it each night? Sean didn't wanna watch the news _again_, but unfortunately his father had once again told him to go into the living room, shut the door and turn on the TV. It had been going on for two weeks now. Sean usually did what his father told him to without question, because he knew his father had had a hard time supporting them both ever since Sean's mother died.

But Sean was getting restless.

It was the same, almost every day! Living room, door, TV! Living room, door, TV! And not once would his father explain to him why this dreary pattern had to be repeated every so often! But now Sean was determined to find out. His father always sent him to the living room right after the phone rang, but this time Sean wanted to listen in on his conversations; therefore he had taken his glass from the dinner table with him, when he was sent to watch boring TV.

Sean approached the door to the kitchen as silent as he could; he had never once disobeyed his father, ever since Sean's mother died and though he usually dreaded the consequences of directly going against his father's will, the mixture of dullness and curiosity had numbed his sense of fear... Although he would feel that again soon enough. He put the glass against the door and then his ear to the glass (a trick he had, ironically enough, seen on the news.) He could faintly hear his father...

"_You listen to me..." _Sean had trouble hearing everything _"The police has been..."_  
Sean tried to press his ear harder against the glass, but it broke. Now he could hear his father approaching the door with fast, angry footsteps...

森

Thomas was feeling many things at once. Anger; fear; regret; worried. But he tried to control his voice, suppressing his desire to scream into the phone. What if his son heard him? Sean may have been a little genius, but after all he was still only 10 years old. Thomas was actually surprised that Sean had had the restraint to sit and watch the local news show, night after night. But Thomas was worried that Sean would begin asking questions soon, so he wanted to find the mysterious caller first. He had their phone number, so why wouldn't he have their address? An intense feeling of noxious and shock came over Thomas as he heard the sound of breaking glass, from the living room – was the caller here? He rushed towards the door and slammed it open.

"_Sean?"_

"_Sorry, dad..." _Thomas saw his son sitting in a small pile of broken glass, right in front of the door.  
_"What happened? _Thomas asked.

"_I..." _Sean had trouble finding an excuse for why the glass broke and why the pieces was in front of the kitchen door.

"_Nevermind, son. What say you we go to bed, eh? It's a school day tomorrow"_ As Thomas said these words, he tried to sound as playful as he possibly could, but it was becoming increasingly difficult with each passing phone call from that crazy man.

"_Sure, dad..." _Sean reluctantly accepted... But was still determined to get answers.

森

He saw the lights go out from the street.

Apartment 4-D.

Live ins: Thomas Bowman and Sean Bowman; father and son. The Mother? Deceased. Murdered by unknown means.

Although not unknown to everyone.

The mysterious man was watching from the streets.


	2. Chapter 2: Sleight of Hand

The next day, Thomas accompanied Sean to school, as he had done ever since the stranger started calling him. Conveniently Sean's middle school was only three blocks away from Saint Mary's high school, the place where Thomas worked as a Janitor, although he wasn't going to work today; he had an appointment at the local police station.

"_Dad?" _Thomas faintly heard his son ask, as they approached the middle school, also named Saint Mary's.

"_What is it, Sean?"_

"_Who is the one calling you every night?" _

Thomas was torn. He didn't want to lie to his son; his only family left in the world, but neither did he want to him to be scared or worried about the caller.

"_It's, uh... Can we wait and then talk about it when we get home? _Thomas inclined.

"_Allright"_ Sean responded, well knowing that their future discussion wouldn't withhold many an answer _"Can I have a hug?"_

Thomas was relieved at how quickly Sean let it go and quickly embraced him before setting off towards the police station.

森

Sean went up the steps toward the front door of Saint Mary's middle school. The name always made him reminisce of his mother, whose name coincidentally also was Mary. She died about 2 years ago. His father didn't like to talk about it, because he suspected Mary might had been thinking about leaving him for a richer man. He wasn't aware that Sean knew, but Sean was a very smart kid. He could see the jealousy in his father's eyes when his mother talked about this new refined friend of hers. The man in the suit.

Sean got almost completely lost in thought when he heard a familiar and comforting voice from behind.

"_Hey there, little guy"_

It was Stacy Petrelli, his one and only friend in the entire school. It was a weird friendship at that, seeing as she was 14; 4 years older than him. She was meant to start High School last year, but decided to stay in the 8th grade of her old middle school. Not because she was lacking academically; quite the contrary, in fact. Much like Sean, Stacy was an extremely gifted student, but also socially awkward. She was scared of High School not on an academic level, but a social one.

Given that she was the only girl Sean had ever truly been able to relate to, he had developed a crush on her. A crush that he knew was not reciprocated, as she clearly saw him as a younger brother.

"_What are you up to?"_ She asked with an enticing smile.

"_I thought about going to my classroom before it's too late; albeit I love detention, per chance mine father doth not" _Sean tried to use what he thought of as fancy words, in an attempt to appear funny. An attempt that proved successful, as Lucy started cackling. Sean always enjoyed that.

Both he and Lucy decided to go to class.

森

Time: 8:19 AM.

The Mysterious Man was anxious.

Walking around in broad daylight was risky business, after all those phone calls he had made to Thomas Bowman. Bowman had told him last night that he had informed the police, after all.

And what he if was discovered?

He was standing on the sidewalk at the park, on the other side of the street from Saint Mary's middle school, wearing a trench coat with a matching hat. Too conspicuous? Perhaps.

He was watching Sean Bowman, the target, talk to some girl, who then went into the school with him.

Friends perhaps? Didn't look like classmates.  
He took note of her appearance, in case it might be useful.

Time was running out. He couldn't keep playing this game. He had to get a hold of Sean Bowman. Soon.

森

"_Damn it! How long do I have to put up with this?"_ Police Captain Stone was angry _"We're the police, for crying out loud! Not a Goddamn animal shelter!"_

"_I understand sir, but 22 is an awful lot of pets to go missing over two weeks and I..."_

"_No! I repeatedly tell everyone in this town that we fight crime; we do not, I repeat: DO NOT save kitties from tall trees! If you think you can prove there's an actual crime, do it on your own time, you hear me?"_

"_I... Yes sir" _Officer Lux replied with a sigh and left Captain Stone's office. Lux was young and naive, but he had his heart in the right place and Stone knew that. He felt bad that he had to take such a harsh tone with the boy, but it was necessary. If there ain't no crime, don't waste ya' time, as Stone always said. Stone had a reputation of being a hard-ass around the station, which he was particularly proud of, so he was most certainly not going to jeopardize it by initiating an investigation on missing pets, when there was crimes to be handled and law-breakers to be arrested.

He was standing in his office, reminiscing about his younger days, when he was a soft boy, like Lux, when someone knocked on his door and stepped inside.

"_Sir?"_

It was Ms. Petrelli, his secretary. Truth be told, she wasn't much of a secretary, as she had little to no typing skills, nor had she any experience maintaining a schedule. Stone liked to pretend that the reason he hired her was pity, given that she was a single parent without High School education, but truthfully he hired her out of attraction. Stone was nearly 53 years old, but had never had wife or kids and even though Ms. Petrelli was more than 20 years younger than him, he considered her to be his last chance.

"_Sir, there's a Mr. Bowman here to see you." _

"_Oh, very well Marjorie. Send him in."_

Stone was excited about Bowman's visit. Evidently some freak had been calling and threatening his child, which finally signaled some real crime in the city. Anything would be better than searching for lost dogs named Sparky or Courage. Stupid.

"_Captain Stone?" _A man with messy hair and a thin beard stood before him.

"_Mr. Bowman. Sit down."_ Captain Stone made a gesture towards a chair in front of his desk, as he as down in his own behind it. Naturally Stone had made sure that his chair would always be the taller one, so that he appeared more powerful to his visitors. Captain Stone began:

"_So, Mr. Bowman. You said on the phone that a stranger has been calling you every other night to threaten your son."_

"_Yes. There's this... Strange man calling. He says all this weird stuff; I don't quite get what he's talking about all the time, but he says he's gonna to take my son and that... That we're both gonna die."_

Mr. Bowman seemed very shook up about the whole situation. It was definitely not a prank.

"_Where's your son now?"_ Captain Stone asked.

"_Uh, he... He's in school. I told the teachers to keep an eye on him until I come to pick him up."_

"_Aha... Well, if there's a crazy nut-job runnin' around threatening you and your children, you might not wanna wander alone. Do you have any friends or family you could stay with for a time?"_

"_No. None at all."_

"_Don't worry about that, Mr. Bowman. I think I have a solution to that issue."_

森

Captain Stone let Thomas Bowman out of his office. God, he was a real man. He had muscle, looked smart and was always nice to her. Thomas Bowman, that is. Which is the exact reason Marjorie liked him.

"_Hi, Thomas – so what are you doing later?" _She asked him in her most well-concealed seductive tone of voice.

"_Uhm, hi Miss Petrelli. I'll just be taking care of my son" _Thomas replied awkwardly.

"_Oh, Thomas, don't be silly. Call me Marjorie." _She playfully told him, not at all aware that he had barely taken notice of her. They had only talked 5 times, including this one, in the 6 years she had lived in the town, but she felt like they made an instant connection.

During the time her daughter, Stacy, tried to avoid going to High School, Marjorie had to go to several meetings at Thomas's work place and mistook what was in fact a mere observation, for seductive flirting, when he commented on her deep blue eyes.

"_Uh, okay... I will from now on then" _Thomas said with a nervous smile, as he made way for the exit, but was abruptly halted by Captain Stone.

"_Mr. Bowman, I forgot. Can I have your phone? Next time he calls, maybe we can track him." _Stone asked Thomas.

"_Uh, sure, I have it here in my jacket pock-" _Thomas had a grim look on his face.

"_What's wrong?" _Stone asked.

Thomas looked straight at him: _"someone must have taken my phone."_

森

Sean felt guilty. He felt bad that he used the excuse of wanting a hug, in order to steal his father's phone out of his jacket pocket. He was in the middle of class, but he couldn't wait anymore – he was determined to find out who had been calling his father.


	3. Chapter 3: The missing Animals

Sean had used a hug as an excuse to steal his father's phone out of his pocket. He had had enough of his father holding him in the dark. He was going to go through the logs menu, find the number of the mysterious caller and find out what it was all about. He had no idea what he was getting himself into.

_"Miss Gretchen, may I go to the bathroom?" _Sean asked his teacher. He was in the middle of class and he knew he couldn't call from there without getting caught.

His teacher, Mrs. Gretchen, looked very displeased with his sudden interruption. You could see her displeasure all the way down from her now quickly tapping left foot, past her tightening grip around a piece of chalk and all the way up to her dark piercing eyes and wrinkly forehead. No doubt her boiling temper and rough exterior was why the students had nicknamed her "The Grinch."

_"Are you certain that you find it urgent enough to interrupt me in the middle of class, Bowman?"_

Sean felt an urge to point out that he already did it and it therefore was a pretty dumb question, but he was able to surpress it. He knew that time was of the essence; his father would no doubt come running with a fury ten times greater than what "The Grinch" was currently displaying, as soon as he figured out Sean had stolene his cellphone.

_"Yes, ma'm. I'm absolutely certain."_

_"Then off you go! You have five minutes, you understand?"_

_"Yes, ma'm" _Sean reluctanly replied, as he quickly sprinted out of the classroom and towards the boys' bathroom. His excitement grew. Sean had never behaved as rebellious as right now and he enjoyed it – with the notable exception of stealing from his own father, whom he greatly respected. Sean went into the bathrooms, whipped out the phone and started searching for the logs menu with an unmatched eagerness, but got goosbumbs as he heard a noise behind him...

森

Officer Lux didn't care what Captain Stone said; he was dead set on finding those missing pets. Having so many pets disappear simultaneously couldn't be a coincidence. What bothered Lux was that Captain Stone couldn't see it... Or perhaps that he did not want to see it. Lux suspected that Stone didn't like him because they were almost complete opposites. Captain Stone was a small old man with an appearance so hard and robust that he could be considered a human Bulldozer; he was direct, hot tempered, bossy and negative. Officer Lux on the other hand, was a 23-year-old man with a charismatic face and a charming smile, who believed that every person had good in them, no matter the crime. He was also religious, which was a fact Captain Stone had criticized on more than one occasion.

Lux was currently skipping his patrol in order to track down the missing pets. He had found a trail; pawprints of several dogs, leading into the nearby forest. He hadn't really spent time in there before, since he only recently transferred to the city. He had no idea who requested the transfer or why, but he was here now and intended to make the best of it. Although sometimes he couldn't help but ponder over it.

Lux was about to lose himself in thought as his cellphone started ringing. It was Stone.

"_Yes, Captain?"_

"_Are you patrolling? It doesn't sound like you're in your car!"_

"_Well, sir..." _Lux decided it was best not to lie _"... I found a trail of the missing pets and I've been following it into the forest."_

"_What? If you're trying to piss me off, Lux, you're doing a hell of a job!" _Captain Stone screamed into the phone. Lux could only wonder where he got the lung-capacity for such a volume. Lux would've explained as he progressed through the forest, but was interrupted by Stone:

"_No matter, Lux. I'm giving you a class-A assignment effective immediately. You are to go to Oak Street 14, apartment 4-D and find Thomas Bowman. Some crazy prick has been calling and threatening him and his son. From now on, you're their bodyguard. Got it..? I said got it?"_

Lux did not answer straight away. Not because he did not want to, but because he couldn't. He had fallen to his knees, nearly throwing up at the grotesque sight before him. He had found the missing animals.

森

Marjorie was very relaxed as she categorized the different files and folders behind her desk. She had a little trouble with the order of the alphabet, but she almost had it right. She was looking forward to ducking out from work early when her boss, Captain Stone, called her to his office.

She walked in and closed the door behind her. Stone looked both worried and excited at the same time.

"_What's wrong, boss?" _Marjorie asked. Stone looked straight at her with a serious expression on his old mug.

"_Peter... Officer Lux found the missing pets. They were out in the forest, all either gutted or ripped apart, with their entrails lying in heaps everywhere. Were dealing with one sick asshole here! I need you to inform the entire station. I want the entire city under tight surveillance. Also, call the local TV-station and tell them they need to send a message via the news show: Don't go out after dark!"_

森

"_What are you doing?"_

These four words made Sean jump. He looked up in the mirror in front of him and saw a little boy standing behind him. He recognized him as a kid in the grade below his own, but did not know his name. There was no reason to remember the name of anyone he didn't talk to on a regular basis.

"_I am washing my hands" _Sean told him, in a very hissing tone.

"_No. You have a phone! YOU HAVE A PHONE! We're not allowed to bring cellphones to school!"_

The random boy was really irritating Sean; yet another ignorant kid that made a big deal out of nothing. The other kids never truly took a look around them. Sean couldn't quite describe it. It was as if they were robots, or in some sort of trance; perhaps they were just stupid.

"_It's just a toy" _Sean excused himself _"It's not a real cellphone!"_

"_Yes it is; it made noises" _The random boy proclaimed. Sean had very little patience right not.

"_Yes, good for you! Now leave me alone!" _he snapped. The boy then walked away with glowing red cheeks. No doubt he was angry.

Sean was finally alone and he had found the number he was looking for. Who was calling his father? And what for? Sean was about to find out. As he slowly moves his thumb towards the call-button, he began feeling noxious in a weird way he couldn't quite describe to himself. Was he nervous? Did he really not want to do this? No, he definitely wanted to. Perhaps he just coincidentally got sick at that very moment.

Sean pressed his thumb against the call-button and in the same moment he felt a massive hand grab his arm and pull him back, while the cellphone was abruptly torn from his grip. The mysterious arm twisted his and forced him to turn around and look at what he knew was the scariest thing he had ever seen: Mrs. Gretchen, The Grinch, in a rage fit.

"_So that's what we're doing out here, is it Mr. Bowman? Playing with our cool cellular phones in the bathroom? Well, let me tell you, young man, this kind of behavior is not acceptable! First you disrespect me in front of the entire class and then you lie about having to go to the bathroom, so that you can sneak out and use a cellphone! And need I remind you that they are NOT allowed on school premises, mister! Let me tell you, you are in a world of trouble now!"_

During this frightening fit of rage, Sean also recalled what it was he hated the most about The Grinch: She treated him like a child. Sean wanted to defend himself, but he quickly found himself being dragged to the principals office. The Grinch went on and on:

"_Now, I've never seen a brat as disrespectful as you! Back in my day..." _But Sean managed to tune it out. She kept going once they reached the stairwell and she had to find the right key to the door.

Sean looked out the large window in the hallway as the consequences of his actions drew ever closer for each key tested in the keyhole. Oh, sweet freedom. He couldn't help but envy the thought of being out there, instead of in here. Suddenly he spotted something unusual, standing under a tree in the edge of the park – right on the other side of the street – was a man. Sean couldn't see his face, as the shadow of the tree covered it, but he could have sworn that man was looking straight at him. The nausea briefly returned, but Sean had little time to recover before the Grinch had opened the stairwell door with one of her hundreds of trusty keys and dragged him up the stairs.

So here he was.. In front of the principals office.

Could it get any worse than this?

Sean would soon find out that it indeed... could.


	4. Chapter 4: The Principal's Museum

If Sean's father could see him now, he'd be furious. No doubt he would be later. Sean had never gotten in trouble this serious before; he had never been to the principals office. Of course Sean wasn't naive. He knew that there weren't brimstone, torture or horror behind the rather unique and neatly carved door, but he hated the thought of disappointing his father.

As The Grinch opened the door by its equally impressive handle, Sean had reverted to his usual apathetic self, but just as soon as he had calmed himself down, he was filled with surprise and awe. Sean did not know what this room was, but it most certainly didn't look like a principals office. The entire room, which seemed a lot larger on the inside, was filled from left to right and top to bottom with statues, plaques, paintings, figures and other ornaments. It looked like a small, but very very exciting museum. At the end of the room, a man sat behind a wooden desk, carved in the same creative style as the door. He was wearing a blue suit with a black tie and had a thick dark mustache to go with his fancy slick haircut. Sean recognized him as the principal, although seeing him was a rare thing, as he spent most of his time in his office, doing paperwork and conveying tasks to his secretaries via a telecom.

The Grinch marched over and exchanged some hasty words with him, to which he nodded with a stern and serious expression on his face and Sean couldn't help but feel a bit intimidated by him, even from a distance. The Grinch then hurried out of the room, but took her time to fire off her own version of a serious look straight at Sean, before closing the door behind her, leaving him with the principal. The principal looked at Sean and nodded towards the "guest chair" at his desk. Sean understood the cue and made his way over there, after which he sat down and looked at the principal who made his way to his own chair, still not breaking eye contact with Sean. Scary.

"_So, Sean... Do you know my name?" _He asked._  
"No, sir!"  
"It's Principal Charles LaVey. Now, remember that."  
"Yes, sir!"  
"So I hear you've had some poor behavior. Acting out; correcting miss Gretchen; lying to get out of class; bullying a boy; playing around with a cellular telephone. Did I cover everything?"_

Sean nodded and realized that the boy from the bathroom was the one who had told on him. Normally he wouldn't mind an adult telling him off, but Principal LaVey had a strange and very powerful "aura" of authority that Sean just couldn't shake off. He merely sat and listened, now staring downwards, as the principal went on:

_"I think the best thing now would be to call your father..." _Sean immediately directed his highest level of attention towards the principal _"... and to give you detention for at least a month." _Principal LaVey got up and went over to his window, staring outside.

_"But then again...It must be hard for you to sit and listen in a class where you already know all the answers, so I think I'm gonna let you go this time. Out of... Sympathy." _Principal LaVey now smarted smiling, as if the stern look he had displayed up until now had merely been a mask. Sean was surprised. Was he joking? Would he let him go, just like that? And how did he know how well Sean did in class?

_"Sir, how do you know that..."_

_"Your situation in class? Whilst old teachers like miss Gretchen – you didn't here me say that – may be ignorant of it, I am well aware what this pattern of behavior means. You're way too good for this level of education. Am I wrong?"_

_"Well..." _Sean was baffled at the thought of an adult actually taking him seriously _"... Yeah."_

_"Sean, Sean, Sean... I know very well what it is like. I was like that too. But of course no one will ever take a child seriously..."_

Sean was positively amazed! Not only did the principal understand how Sean felt, but he was practically reading his mind. He felt a bond being established between the two of them and felt actively excited. He gathered his courage and asked:

_"Excuse me, principal LaVey, what are all these thing you have standing around in the office?"_

_"Please, Sean, call me Charles. No need for the formality" _Principal LaVey chuckled.

_"Well, okay... Charles" _Sean said, feeling slightly stupid and out of place.

Charles guided Sean towards a glass display case by the window. Inside the display case, was a rock with a strange footprint on it. It was massive and had only four toes.

_"This is a rock found in a cave in the Himalayas. The footprint on it is unlike anything anyone have ever seen. It has a shape somewhat similar to that of a Homo Sapiens, a human, but it is far too large and there are only four toes on it. No doubt something really heavy had been standing really still for a really long time. As a matter of fact, I believe this is the footprint of the notorious Big Foot." _Charles eagerly explained. No doubt this was a hobby of his, seeing how enthused he became. Still, Sean could not help but sending him a funny look.

_"Now now, Sean" _Charles went on _"Don't give me that look. I believe there is a truth to many myths that people take for granted. Myths many people have forgotten. I am somewhat of a collector and enthusiast. If you will take a look around the office..." _Charles went on as he guided Sean around with hand gestures so elegant that they had to have been practiced beforehand _"… you will see an egg I believe was once the potential offspring of The Loch Ness Monster; a staff once used by the Aztecs during sacrificial rituals; a knife used by Jack the Ripper, along with a copy of a code he left behind that's never been cracked, imported straight from England. A so far not successfully translated scroll that Pythia, the Oracle of Delphi, left behind..."_

Sean listened intensely. He had never heard anyone speak of something with such pleasure and enthusiasm as Charles spoke of his collection. Furthermore, Sean felt an interest growing for this topic as well. It was hard not to develop one, with all the cool stuff lying around. There was ancient figures, dishes and vases; there were things from Greece, Egypt, England, Rome, Denmark, Australia, Ireland, Central Africa, Japan, China and even the North Pole. And almost all of these objects were tied to forgotten stories, rituals, mysteries, myths and miracles. Some were grim and dark, while others were light-hearted and breath-taking. All of them were intriguing and fascinating.

Charles could no doubt sense Sean's fascination rising, as he only got more and more thrilled. Finally he led him to the end of the tour: a tall bookcase standing up against the wall, right behind his desk chair. There were paintings by Leonardo Da Vinci, hanging on the wall on both sides of the bookcase.

_"This, Sean, is my ultimate collection of knowledge. Anything you can find in this room, can be found in these books. Now, I don't wanna brag, but... Well, actually I do. I may have written – and published – a couple of these myself."_

_"That's quite impressive" _Sean added

_"I should hope so; I've dedicated my entire life to this. I dare say it is more than just a simple hobby." _Charles replied _"but I think that is enough for today, don't you?"_

Sean felt bad that their time was already up, nor did he feel all that great about going right back to the unforgiving grim dungeon of the ever-grumpy Grinch.

_"Do I really have to go back?" _he asked.

_"Oh, don't worry Sean. I am sending you home for the day. I fear that sending you back to class before your teacher has cooled off may be unwise, so I think it would be best if you returned tomorrow" _Charles replied and went to open the door _"feel free to come and visit me up here anytime, okay?"_

A smile came over Sean's lips as he went out the door _"Okay, Charles."_

森

Time: 11:02

The mysterious man was growing impatient. It wasn't stalking the school building hour upon hour for a decent opportunity that drove him tired of waiting, but the measure of which he had had to wait overall. Just waiting for an opportunity with this kid had taken months. He didn't make the decision to start calling his father until a few weeks ago. In reality, he had had plenty of time to train his patience over the years.

But now there was no time to reminisce about the past – an activity for the weak-minded and regular people – and now it looked to him as if his labor would finally bear fruit. It was time. The boy, Sean Bowman, was emerging from the front door of the elementary school with no escort. Nor did it seem like anyone was around, either. Absolutely perfect. The mysterious man was sitting on a bench with a newspaper, watching his target passing by on the opposite side of the street. On his way home, no doubt. It was definitely in that direction.

Yes, it was perfect. The mysterious man walked down the street as well, but stayed on his own side of the road, as to not arouse suspicion. He most certainly wasn't going to miss a rare opportunity such as this. He maintained that strategy, walking across from and slightly behind the kid, with a distant look and newspaper in hand, until a pedestrian crossing finally came along. Of course he already knew it would; he had memorized the entire area inside out. He probably even knew it better than the people who lived here. Normal people were always so... unaware of their surroundings.

He crossed the street and was now in the blind spot of the boy, who hadn't even seemed to notice him at all. He began walking slightly faster, but increased his speed at a slow space to be safe. Finally he was getting close. Closer. Closer. Even Closer. The kid was finally within his physical reach. The mysterious man looked at his watch.

11:15

He had been following that kid for thirteen minutes now. Looks like patience do indeed pay off. He was slowly reaching out towards the Bowman kid as he heard someone calling. It came from down the opposite side of the street. A man had just emerged from around the corner. Blue uniform. Cop? Possibly – no – probably.

"_Hey kid, are you Sean Bowman?"_ The man yelled.

Hell no, was the mysterious man going let this opportunity go. As the kid diverted his attention to the yelling meddler, he grabbed him and put him in an advanced sleeper hold, as he ran off with him under his arm.

"_Hey, what the hell are you doing?! Get back here or I'll shoot!" _The stranger, who with the gun comment revealed that he was definitely a cop, yelled after him. No matter. He couldn't possibly know the town as well as the mysterious man could. He ran and ran, with the cop in pursuit. He wasn't afraid of getting shot. He didn't believe the cop would even dare do so, as long as he had the kid.

32.3 meters straight ahead and then turn right. Then jump up to the stabled trash cans on the right in the alleyway and jump over the fence. He had it all pictured in his head, although he pondered over how successful and elegant his jump would be whilst carrying around a dozed off kid. As he entered the alleyway, he did exactly as planned and ran out to the street on the other side. What he hadn't accounted for was his pursuers athletic abilities matching his own. As he looked back towards his pursuer, he saw how he effortlessly made the same jump as him, without as much as flinching. But lets see how he fared in the Princeton neighborhood; a neighborhood consisting off several small apartment buildings placed in a huge square, with countless pathways in between them.

The mysterious man ran inside the maze of buildings, hedges and dirt pathways, already knowing the exact route he wanted to take. There was no way that cop could follow him through there.

森

Lux was in hot pursuit of Sean's kidnapper. About hour earlier he had met up with Sean Bowman's father, Thomas, and they went to his school together to find the him, but were told that he had gone home for the day. After that they split up to look for him. Mr. Bowman went home and Lux decided to scout the city out to be on the safe side, which had proven to be a good idea, for only 10 minutes later he was witness to the child's kidnapping. And this was no ordinary kidnapper.

This perp knew what he was doing. The way he jumped those trash cans could not have been improvised and still he seemed incredibly determined as he ran towards a massive collection of apartment buildings. Not only that, but he was fast too, and even while carrying a child to boot. But Lux was just as determined to catch him, as he was to get away.

The guy had gone in through an alley and Lux reached it just in time to see the guy turn left. He ran after him, but the pathway then split off into three. He was most definitely not going to find him by searching randomly and he had the notion that the kidnapper already planned a route through this horribly difficult maze. An impressive feat, indeed. One thing was for sure: Lux did not know the city half as well as the kidnapper. He had to think this through before pursuing him.


	5. Chapter 5: So close and yet so far

Thomas was worried. Officer Lux had lend him his police car, so that he could drive right home and look for Sean there. Thomas realized that what Lux did could actually get him fired, but he was too worried about his son to think about the consequences there might be for the officer, for lending out an official police car. Right now, Thomas was more focused on the whereabouts of his son, who clearly hadn't come home yet. He'd even been waiting for a while. It didn't seem like Sean to just roam around town. Also, Lux may not have said anything directly, but the way he had behaved told Thomas that something big was going no, so he wasn't inclined to sit around and wait. He decided to have a look around town – hopefully nothing had happened to his son.

_森_

Lux had to think fast. The kidnapper had run into Princton Square, the sub-urban equivalent to a maze, with the helpless Sean. If only he hadn't given his car to Bowman, he could have circled the area. Now he had to somehow figure out which route this stranger would take, but how? Lux was new to the town, so how could he possibly know? He felt himself slightly panicking. How should he handle the situation..?

"_Grandpa! Grandpa!"_

"_What is it, son?"_

"_That kid, Billy... He took my money and ran off!"_

"_I see... Well, instead of depending on me to fix it, how about you do so yourself?"_

"_But... How?"_

"_See if you can't find the money and take it back. Do you remember what we talked about when you need to catch a criminal?"_

"_Yes... First we need to find him, then figure out how to catch him."_

"_... And the first step to that, is asking ourselves what we know about them!"_

… Lux remembered what his grandfather had taught him. The first step is always to ask oneself what one knows about the criminal and then follow that. Even the slightest clue about a suspect could lead an investigation on. Be it a smell, a quirk, a piece of trash, a complex or a physical attribute. But Lux was under pressure and didn't have time to play investigation! He had to find Sean and he had to do so now! And he didn't know squat about the criminal.

_森_

The mysterious man kept running his planned route, without looking back. He never understood why fleeing people looked back. All it ever does is slow them down. As for himself, he knew that a quick glance would slow him down approximately 1.3 seconds. And that's not including the extra burden of carrying a kid. Besides, there's no way that cop would've been able to follow him. Just to be on the safe side though, the man had planned on emerging towards the south and moving towards the big construction site. Not only was his base of operations there, but it was very secluded, with ample hiding spots. After running his planned route through this district, the cop should be confused and lost. As he made his way toward the southern exit, he couldn't help but praise himself, just for a second.

He came out where he was supposed to and made his way across the street to the construction site. Everything was going according to plan! At long last, he had the kid and things finally seemed to be working out. Then the mysterious man heard a loud bang, the distinct sound of a pistol firing, and then felt a searing pain from somewhere near his ankle. He had been shot, he determined. He knew exactly what to do.

First it is important to keep calm and analyze the situation. He couldn't pinpoint the exact location of the wound, but he knew it was shallow. Could he walk? Yes. Run? Probably. What did it tell him about the cop? He might be a bad shot, or unwilling to use his gun under even these circumstances. Either way, it means he is either poorly trained or that his compassion clouds his judgment. He'll be easy to beat in a physical confrontation, should it come to that.

As the man quickly analyzed the situation, the cop moved closer at an alarming rate. The course of action was now decided. As the cop stood above him, with a gun pointed towards his head, telling him to lie still on the ground, the man quickly grabbed a knife out of his boot. He used the knife to cut the cop's gun hand and then he grabbed the gun, turning it on it's bedazzled owner.

The cop started talking to him:

"_Calm down. We can work this out... What's your name?"_

The mysterious man wasn't stupid enough to hand out such delicate information. Besides, he had long thrown off his former identity – and his name with it. Now he was someone else entirely.

"_Hand over the gun and the kid, and we'll talk about it, okay?"_

Ha! Like he'd hand over the kid, after all he'd been thro... The kid! He had made a crucial mistake! He had taken his eyes off the prize. An error he came to regret no more than a moment after he realized it. The kid had woken up and kicked him right in the newly acquired ankle wound, causing him to fall to his knee. The cop saw this as an opportunity and attempted to wrangle back his gun.

The man figured that ther was no way to win this. Safest scenario? Discard gun! The man then threw his most devious head butt at the cop as a distraction, as he tossed the gun as far away as he could, turned tail and ran through the construction site at an alarming speed. The cop didn't seem to be following him. He was relieved. Although he knew that it wasn't the last he had seen of that guy.

_森_

It was really late. About 9 pm. Olivia Gretchen, or "the Grinch" as she knew the children called her, had made of habit of staying at school until this time. There was simply no reason to go home, after her husband had left her. She didn't enjoy watching TV, nor did she have any hobbies. All she could do was wait until the next day and pour her energy into teaching, whether the kids wanted to be taught or not.

As she was packing up, she noticed the Sean Bowman's cellular nightmare of a phone was still on her desk. Then her mind began to wonder. Who was he calling? Maybe there was another kid wit a cell phone in school, and they were calling each other! She decided to look through the phone logs and call the same number her pupil had. As she searched the phone for its logs, she smiled at the thought of setting that Bowman kid straight! Always undermining her authority and education!

After a short amount of searching she found the logs and with great eagerness chose the latest entry, moving her fat thumb to the call-button, pressing it down with an almost malevolent grin. The grin however, soon turned to a nervous one. She immediately turned around, when she heard the sound of another phone ringing, right behind her.

She turned around, her eyes ripe with terror as her eyes met the unexpected visitor.

"_You... You... What are you..." _she uttered, as her very last words. Then, her light was extinguished.


End file.
